The present invention relates to cable tie bandoliers for use with automatic cable tie tools, and, more particularly, to continuous cable tie bandoliers formed from non-continuous molding operations.
Cable ties have long been known in bundling electrical cables or like articles. As is well known, an individual cable tie includes an elongate strap body including a tail at one end and a head at the opposite end. The cable tie may be placed about a group of cables and the tail is inserted through the head. The head includes an appropriate locking mechanism such as a barb or pawl which cooperates with the tail to lock the strap body in the head.
It is also known to use appropriately constructed tools to apply cable ties about the bundle of cables. In certain instances, such cable tie tools are automatic cable tie tools which feed individual cable ties into the tool from a dispenser or other mechanism which supports a plurality of cable ties. These plurality of cable ties may be arranged in a dispenser in reels of wound cable ties known as a bandolier. Each bandolier of cable ties would include a plurality of side-by-side cable ties arranged in longitudinal succession.
The art has seen various techniques for reeling cable ties for use in automatic cable tie tools. However, each of the prior art devices have distinct disadvantages. For instance one technique is to support the cable ties in side-by-side fashion by use of a carrier strip extending exteriorly of the aligned heads. The carrier strip supports the cable ties in bandoliered fashion. It can be appreciated that the carrier strip results in excessive waste when the cable ties are cut from the carrier strip in the automatic cable tie tool.
Another technique is to form webs between adjacent cable ties to support the cable ties in side-by-side spaced fashion along the bandolier. However, to ensure that the cable ties remain parallel to one another in the bandolier, webs must be placed both adjacent the head and the tail so as to couple together side-by-side cable ties at two distinct locations. Again, this type of construction results in an increase in waste. Further it is difficult to mold such a configuration in an economical fashion. In addition, many of the techniques to form bandoliers of cable ties rely on the heads being supported at one end and the tails extending adjacent the other end. When such cable ties are wound on a reel, the wound bandolier is bulkier at the head end than at the end adjacent the tails. This results in difficulty in accurately supporting the wound bandolier of cable ties within an appropriate dispensing mechanism. Also there is a tendency for the tails to become intertwined. This renders automatic installation of the ties difficult.
In the manufacture of such cable ties, the ties are typically formed in a continuous molding operation, i.e. a plurality of longitudinally aligned cable ties (a shot of ties) is molded in one molding operation. Thereafter, the shot of ties is moved externally of the mold and a second longitudinally successive shot of ties is molded. In order to maintain continuity between the individual shots of cable ties, the finished shot must be maintained in contact with the mold so that the next successive shot of cable ties will be connected thereto.
In order to effectively form ties in such a fashion, each shot of ties must be manufactured on a relatively small scale. Thus, the individual shots of ties are manufactured with small cavity molds. Continuous molding in this fashion also results in slower cycle times as compared with the use of conventional larger cavity molds. Furthermore, if during the continuous molding process, a defective tie is manufactured, the entire strip of ties must be discarded. The present invention provides for the ability to continuously link together shots of cable ties without employing a continuous molding process.
There is therefore a need in the art for improved techniques for interconnecting the cable ties of a bandolier whereby the cable ties of such bandolier may be readily cut from the bandolier without excessive waste, the cable ties of such bandolier are sufficiently supported and maintained in proper alignment to facilitate use in the automatic tool and whereby the bandolier may be readily wound on a reel for use in an automatic tool. There is a further need in the art for a technique for forming a continuous bandolier of cable ties using a non-continuous molding operation.